Yesterday (last year ) I think Mike mentioned on one of the "K" threads that it was too bad we didn't know who won the 1907 "win a car" contest. I had been looking for it and found mention in the list of all winners that the grand winner would be announced in the June issue of Motor ( the magazine conducting the contest).

Unfortunately, I couldn't find an online June copy of a motor, so I was resigned to looking on ebay and Hershey and anywhere for Motor June issue.

However, (again I think it was Mike) the mention of this in last years thread motivated me,,and I went on looking for any mention of contests innMotor,moping there might be something mentioned later.

I did see the July issue (I had already seen this before) and mention of an upcoming contest. What I had not noticed (not great copies) was at the very bottom of this article, there is mention of two former winners including their comments.

Now, we know (if you've followed this) that the Thomas Flyer was the most often chosen car by contest entrants (over 6500 entered the contest). Next, Locomobile and Franklin and another car were chosen with Ford coming in 5th (and if someone gets on this thread and says they were choosing a $600 N Ford instead of the $2800 Model K, I'll come "unglued". Remember these contestants had to correctly list the names of the 30 cars pictured (and Ford was not one of the 30 shown). If you saw the list, there were some "obscure" cars listed.

As part of the contest, the entrants would choose the car they would like to win, costing equal to or less than $3000. We knew from the contest results in May that Ford (K) was chosen 5th most often (great way for Motor magazine to conduct a popularity contest of cars too). The May issue also showed the names of the four entrants who tied for 1st prize, all naming 29 of the cars shown correctly.

Unfortunately, what we didn't know was who of the four won, and what the car the final winner won. Of course, in a perfect (Ford) world, we would all hope the "grand winner" would have chosen the Ford (K). Of course,,we don't live in a perfect world. And, we didn't even know who of the final four won.

UNTIL NOW!

When I "drilled" into the the small print in the July issue, the two contest winners (Motor had conducted several contests since 1905) who were quoted were a gentleman who won a Maxwell (the contest before ours where the grand prize was a pre determined two cylinder Maxwell) AND THE WINNER OF THE THREE THOUSAND OR LESS CAR OF THEIR CHOICE!.

List showing overall contest winners (top 4 tied for first):

. .

And the July "new" contest. At the bottom, you will see the two previous contest winners quotes circled in red. . . .

And the winner was Mrs. H. S. CHAPIN of Rockville Center, N.Y.. If you follow below, Mrs. Chapin is the third listed of the four who tied for

. .

Below is the enlarged text with the two previous winners, including Mrs. Chapin. It's difficult to read, so work through this with me.......

. .

And, in the next enlarged section,,you can see the car she chose.

. .

The entire segment showing THAT MRS. CHAPIN WAS AWARDED THE FORD!

. .

And so, this contest and the results are "put to bed". What are the odds? Not only was the Ford Model K the 5th most chosen (of over 90 cars picked), the person who won the contest and any car costing $3,000 or less, chose Ford.

We know there are quotes and histories written labeling the Ford Model K as a poor seller, poor performer, and not well received by the buying public.

Regardless, we have a contest with over 6500 auto savvy people responding in 1907, choosing the Model K as the 5th most often picked car. And we have the winner is awarded a oFord (Model K) because she won the contest and chose the Ford.

I have enjoyed your threads on the K, and now I too believe that a combination of business 'politics', after-the-event misinformation and the repeating of what were opinions as if they were facts, have all combined to make the K a much maligned car. A reputation that the car does not deserve.

OK, I'll post one of the contest "test" pages. I suggest anyone who would like take the test themselves and I.D. the cars. If you try this, you may check your answers by going back to the 2012 forum and looking at the filled out pages that MoToR magazine posted.

A "novice" is not going to get these right. And remember, only FOUR OF 6500 CONTESTANTS GOT 29 OF 30 ANSWERS CORRECT!

And this before Internet,,or television, or the local freeway bringing these cars near you at some point. In other words. THESE PEOPLE (WINNERS) NEW THEIR CARS. and, if you know cars well, regardless of how much you like, love, crave, desired, want (get my point?) a Model N or Model R Ford (costing $600 - $700), YOUR GOING TO PICK THE $2,800 CAR. After all, you can sell it in a year (rules say you must keep the car a minimum of one year, probably to keep contestants from only picking the highest value car to selling it immediately)

As much as I'd like to agree with you, I'd wager that Mrs. Chapin actually got a Model N. She was one of four people that had to split the top four prizes. The budget probably wouldn't have allowed them to each get a $2,800 car.

Rob, Perhaps I misread the line "The following are tied for first place and prizes 1, 2, 3, 4 will be divided." After seeing Mrs. Chapin's name in the third position on the four person list that followed the above statement, I assumed that she was one of four first place winners and would share in the division of prizes 1, 2, 3, 4.

Again, I'd love to agree with you on this, but it sure looks like she was awarded a quarter share of prizes one through four and selected a Ford car as her prize. I doubt that her share could've been a Model K. If only we could read the "rules governing the contest" section at the bottom of the two pages that you posted.

Early Spring. Foliage dense in Summer. 47 Minutes from 34th Street, New York A delightful year 'round or summer home. House 58 x 40 ft.; 14 rooms and hath, all Improvements, seven minutes' walk from station, best section of village; corner lot, nearly an acre, 64 large trees, garden, barn with horse and auto equipment. One of the most desirable suburban homes ever offered on Long Island. A bargain at $80,000. Shown by appointment. H. S. CHAPIN. Telephone No. 58. Rockville Center, L. I., PLY.

and here is Mr H S Chapin, the hero...

H. S. Chapin of Rockville Center, L.I. utilized his Hayes automobile last week to help out the local fire company in a recent conflagration. Rockwell Center protects itself from fire with aid from a volunteer hose company. Late at night the alarm was sounded, and too few volunteers responded to be able to get the hose cart to the fire. Mr. Chapin promply got out his Haynes car and towed the hose cart and the company to the fire, a distance of two miles.

But seriously, Rob, the internet can be your friend. Try some ancestory sites and see what you find. I uses one such site and found descendants of the original owner of my 1911. I talked with the lady who found some original photographs. She sent them to me to copy and return to her. I would have never found her if I hadn't thought, "What the heck, I'll try..."

a was able to find two of Mr. White (the Snowmobile inventer)grand children. His grandson said "I'm not comfortable talking about him",and said that his sister had all the family pictures but would not give me any info.to contact her. I already had her married name so on with the search. It took me three years and many phone calls and finely was able make contact. She confirmed all the stories I had heard from people that knew him. But the end result was nothing on the Snowmobile Co. I sent her some of the info. I had for her children to view. The end results were negative, but I had to try. Any one with info.on the Snowmobile Co. or Snow Flyer abd Snow Bird please contact me.

Yes, it was a Haynes. I wouldn't be discouraged however. Given that they had an $80,000 estate to sell in those days, it's not surprising that they already owned an automobile, and a nice one too! It doesn't suggest that she did not win the Ford.

Maybe Mr. Chapin choose the Haynes to pull the fire engine because he had heard bad things about the dependability of the Model K? Sorry, I couldn't resist.

I look forward to your future reviews of the Yugo. Couldn't resist that either. I better stop now.